Concrete-mixing attachment



Oct. 12, 1965 N. BUTTERFIELD 3,211,436

CONCRETE-MIXING ATTACHMENT Filed Dec. 4. 1961 32 4a 30 42 4e H 44 2a az aa aff 3 4 ml 1C Y 7-1 4 as ,0 J- m 5 ME I I *T M B I 8688 m Ill 92 90 Z I u l l I 12 5A Phi 96 1 Eli 86 iii- 92 M :1: 15 .5

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amp ,2 awreenao United States Patent Ofiice 3,211,436 Patented Oct. 12, 1965 3,211,436 CONCRETE-MIXING ATTACHMENT David N. Butterfield, RED. 2, Lake City, Mich. Filed Dec. 4, 1961, Ser. No. 156,720 2 Claims. (CL 259173) This invention relates to earth-moving machinery employing buckets, and, in particular, to attachments for such buckets.

One object of this invention is to provide a concrete mixing attachment for installation in the bucket of an earth moving machine whereby use of the machine may be welded to perform the additional task of mixing concrete and depositing it in the desired location on the job.

Another object is to provide a bucket-installed concrete mixing attachment of the foregoing character wherein the attachment is quickly installed in or removed from the bucket so as to permit the bucket to be quickly and easily restored to its original function of moving earth or other material.

Another object is to provide a bucket-installed concrete mixing atachment of the foregoing character which includes a rotary concrete mixing device actuated by a rotary hydraulic motor which in turn is supplied with pressure fluid from the regularly installed hydraulic system of the earth-moving machine, so that no additional power source is required.

Another object is to provide a bucket-installed concrete mixing attachment of the foregoing character in which the concrete mixing device includes a rotary shaft provided with spaced multiple spring-mounted agitators which yieldingly mix the concrete in the bucket and at the same time preferably scrape the mixture from the walls of the bucket in order to insure thorough mixing.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent during the course of the following description of the accompanying drawing, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a top plan view of an earth-moving machine bucket equipped with a concrete-mixing attachment, according to one form of the invention, with the direction of rotation indicated by the arrows;

FIGURE 2 is a cross-section taken along the line 22 in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a cross-section taken along the line 33 in FIGURE 1, showing the hydraulic motor drive mechanism;

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged fragmentary top plan view of one of the scraper ends of the concrete mixing agitators; and

FIGURE 5 is a section taken along the line 55 in FIGURE 4.

Earth-moving machines using buckets which are raised, lowered and moved with a scooping action by power received from a vehicle to which they are attached are in common use, particularly those having buckets operated by reciprocable hydraulic motors connected to tractors of the track-laying or crawling type. Such machines, however, while admirably suited for all kinds of jobs calling for scraping up, moving and depositing of loose materials, either solid or fluid, have hitherto required the additional provision and use of a concrete mixing machine where the job involved the pouring of concrete. The present invention eliminates the need for the concrete mixer by providing a concrete mixing attachment which is quickly and easily installed in the bucket, scoop or skip of the earth-moving machine, thereby rendering it particularly useful to the small contractor and reducing his investment in the machines necessary for his work.

Referring to the drawing in detail, FIGURE 1 shows an earth-moving machine bucket, generally designated 10, of the type found in conventional earth-moving machines, the

bucket 10 being shown diagrammatically and the links and arms by which it is connected to the machine and moved being omitted not only to simplify the illustration but also because the arrangement of such links and arms varies with different machines. Such machines are Well known in the earth-moving machine industry and are very familiar to contractors and other workers in the contracting and earth-moving industries and hence require no illustration of conventional details which are beyond the scope of the present invention. It will be understood, however, that such arms, links and reciprocatory hydraulic motors enable the bucket 10 to be raised, lowered, tilted and pushed horizontally with a scooping motion while so tilted, or moved back and forth horizontally while raised, in order to position the bucket for dumping the load at a predetermined location, in cooperation with the steering of the tractor or other vehicle to which the bucket is connected. It is also understood and well known that such earth-moving machines are equipped with hydraulic systems for the generation and distribution of hydraulic pressure fluid for moving the bucket, and that the generating capacity of the hydraulic pump or pumps is ordinarily in excess of the usual requirements for earth-moving, in order to provide a safety margin for temporarily excessive demands.

The bucket 10 is shown as having forward and rearward lips 12 and 14 which, for purposes of simplicity, are shown without the replaceable wear plates or bars with which they are usually equipped. The bucket 10 has a trough-shaped bottom wall 16 of approximately semi-cylindrical configuration excepting the straighter portions adjacent the forward and rearward edge lips 12 and 14, and opposite end walls 18 and 20 at the righthand and left-hand sides of the machine respectively. The end Walls 18 and 20 are provided at their upper edges 22 and 24 with U-shaped notches or apertures 26 and 28 for the installation of the concrete mixing attachment, generally designated 30, according to the invention.

The concrete mixing attachment 30 consists generally of a hydraulic motor-equipped speed reduction power unit 32 mounted on the left-hand end wall 20 of the bucket 10, an agitator unit 34 rotated by the power unit 32, and a bearing unit 36 attached to the right-hand bucket end wall 18 and rotatably supporting the opposite end of the agitator unit 34 from that connected to the power unit 32.

The speed reduction power unit 32 consists of a rotary hydraulic motor 38 drivingly connected to a speed reduction gear set 40, which in turn is drivingly connected to the agitator unit 34. The hydraulic motor 38 is supplied with operating fluid, such as oil, from a pump and hydraulic system (not shown) regularly installed upon the earth-moving machine (also not shown), by means of a flexible pressure-fluid supply pipe 42 and a flexible fluid exhaust or return pipe 44 (FIGURE 1). The rotary hydraulic motor 38 is conventional and its details are beyond the scope of the present invention, since various types thereof are available upon the open market and are well-known in the hydraulics industry. The hydraulic motor 38 illustrated is shown to be the so-called gear type consisting of a casing 46 bolted or otherwise secured as by the angle plate or bracket 48 to the speed reduction gear set 40 (FIGURE 2). R0- tatably mounted in the casing 46 are two intermeshing impeller gears 49 and 50, the gear 50 being connected to the motor output shaft 52 which is also the input shaft of the speed reduction gear set 40. The shaft 52 is shown diagrammatically (FIGURE 3) as journaled in a bearing 54 within the casing 56 of the gear set 40 and 3 on its inner end carries a worm 58 meshing with a Worm wheel 60.

Drivingly secured to the worm wheel 60 (FIGURE 1) is a spline stub shaft 62 which passes through the gear set casing 56 and through the notch 28 and enters a similarly internally-splined filler block or bushing 64 of approximately hollow cylindrical shape. The bushing 64 fits snugly into the interior of a hollow intermediate shaft I or pipe 66 and is preferably welded to the inner or bore surface 68 thereof. For the hollow shaft 66 a two-inch pipe has been used in practice. Removably fitted into the opposite end of the hollow intermediate shaft or pipe 66 is an axle or stub shaft 70 having an enlarged inner portion 72 slidably received within the shaft bore 68 and a reduced diameter outer portion 74 rotatably supported in the bearing unit 36. The hollow shaft or pipe 66 and the enlarged portion 72 are drilled in alignment diametrically to receive a coupling bolt 76 which drivingly but detachably interconnects them. The reduced diameter portion 74 of the axle 70 passes through the notch 26 in the bucket end wall 18. The bearing unit 36 is of any suitable type, such as a ball bearing roller hearing or other available type, and is bolted or otherwise secured at 78 to the bucket end wall 22. Similarly, the gear set casing 56 is bolted or otherwise secured at 80 to the bucket end wall 20.

The hollow shaft or pipe 66 of the agitator unit 34 is drilled diametrically at intervals along its length and in circumferentially offset sequence to receive anchor bolts 82, intervals of four or five inches having been found suitable in practice. The anchor bolts pass through the similarly drilled inner ends of arcuate spring arms 84 (FIGURE 2) of slightly greater than semicircular extent which are thereby secured tangentially of the shaft or pipe 66. Welded or otherwise secured to the outer ends of the spring arms 84 are anchor or backing plates 86 to which are attached slightly yieldable scrapers or scraper plates 88 preferably of rubber, such as rectangular pieces of heavy rubber belting reinforced with cord textile layers or the like (FIG- URES 4 and 5). The scraper plates 88 are secured to the anchor plates 86 by means of retaining plates 90 and bolts 92, the plates 86, 88 and 90 being drilled in alignment to receive the bolts 92. In this manner, the hollow shaft or pipe 66 is provided with resilient dragtooth paddles or agitators, generally designated 94, including the arcuate spring arms 84 with their scrapers or mixing paddles, generally designated 96, including the plates 86, 88 and 90 and bolts 92.

Prior to installation of the concrete mixing attachment 30, the end walls 18 and 20 of the bucket are machined to form the U-shaped notches 26 and 28 of sufficient size to receive the axle end portion 78 and spline shaft 62 respectively. Let it be assumed that the dragtooth paddles 94 with their scrapers 96 have been bolted at 82 to the hollow shaft or pipe 66 and that the internally-splined bushing 64 has been welded or otherwise secured in the left-hand end of the shaft bore 68. To convert the bucket 10 from its material-moving capability or function to its concrete mixing function, the axle 70 is slid into the end of the hollow shaft 66 and anchored in position by the bolt 76, the bearing unit 36 is telescoped with the axle end 74 and the assembly of the agitator 34 and bearing unit 36 lowered into the bucket 10 with the axle end 74 entering the U-shaped notch 26. The spline shaft 62 constituting the output shaft of the reduction gear set 40 is then inserted through the notch 28 into the internally-splined bushing 64 into driving engagement therewith, while the speed reduction power unit 32 to which the spline shaft 62 is connected is pushed against the bucket end wall and secured in place by the bolts 80. Similarly, the bearing unit 36 is pushed against the bucket end wall 18 and secured in position by the bolts 78.

The batch containing the usual components of the concrete mixture, including Portland cement, sand, gravel, and Water are then placed in the bucket 10 and the hydraulic system of the earth moving vehicle started in operation to supply hydraulic pressure through the flexible pipe 42 and to exhaust it through the return pipe 44. As a consequence, the gears 49 and 50 of the rotary hydraulic motor 38 start in rotation, rotating the shaft 52, worm 58, worm wheel 69 and spline shaft 62 of the reduction gear set 40. The rotation of the spline shaft 62 through its spline connection with the internallysplined cylindrical block 64 secured in the left-hand end of the hollow shaft or pipe 66 causes the agitator 34 to rotate while the axle 70 is rotatably supported by the bearing unit 36. As the shaft 66 rotates, it drags the drag-tooth paddles 94 through the concrete mixture, the scrapers 96 scraping the mixture off the bottom wall 16 of the bucket 14 while the spring arms 84 thoroughly mix the ingredients or components of the concrete mixture as they are dragged or swung rearwardly in the direction of the arrows (FIGURE 2), assuming clockwise rotation of the shaft 66.

When mixing has been satisfactorily completed, conveying and depositing of the finished mixture is then carried out by operating the usual links, arms, and reciprocatory hydraulic motors (not shown) of the earth-moving vehicle, together with its steering mechanism, dumping the concrete mixture for example into the forms or other recesses intended to receive it. This mixing and depositing procedure is then carried out repeatedly in the foregoing manner until the concrete Work has been completed, whereupon the bucket and agitator 34 are cleaned by washing them down with water under pressure from a hose in the usual manner.

To reconvert the bucket 10 to its material moving use, the operator removes the bolts 78 and from the hearing unit 36 and speed reduction power unit 32, whereupon he is enabled to lift the entire assembly of the power unit 32, agitator 34 and bearing unit 36 out of the bucket 10 by way of the notches 26 and 28 in the upper edges 22 and 24 of the end walls 18 and 20 thereof. Optionally, of course, he may remove the concrete mixer attachment components 32, 34 and 36 separately by sliding the spline shaft 62 out of the internally-splined bushing 64 in the shaft 66 and by pulling the bearing unit 36 away from the axle portion 74 or by removing the coupling bolt 76 to enable the enlarged diameter portion 72 of the axle 70 to be removed from the right-hand end of the bore 68 of the hollow shaft or pipe 66. The concrete mixing attachment 30 may then be set aside until the next occasion for concrete mixing arises, at which time the operator may replace it in the bucket 10 in the manner described above and operate it as hereinbefore set forth.

What I claim is:

1. A concrete-mixing attachment for an earth-moving machine bucket with end wall apertures, said attachment comprising a rotary shaft structure adapted to be rotatingly received in the apertures,

a bearing assembly rotatably supporting one end of said shaft structure,

means for securing said bearing assembly to one of the bucket end walls,

a rotary hydraulic motor driving unit drivingly connected to the other end of said shaft structure, means for securing said driving unit to the other bucket end wall,

and a plurality of mixing agitators secured to said shaft at longitudinally-spaced intervals therealong, said agitators including spring arms of arcuate configuration and of substantially semi-circular extent having their inner ends secured to said shaft structure, said arms partially encircling said shaft structure 6 and said agitators also including mixing paddles sesaid agitators also including mixing paddles secured to the outer ends of said arms. cured to the outer ends of said arms,

2. A concrete-mixing attachment for an earth-moving said mixing paddles including scrapers havmachine bucket with end wall apertures, said attachment ing blades therein of yieldable material. comprising 5 a rotary shaft structure adapted to be rotatingly re- References Cited y the Examiner ceivqdinthe apertures, UNITED STATES PATENTS a eg g g rotatably Supportmg one end of 988,261 3/11 Grim 259 109 X IDSZIIIS fci r s eciijiiig said bearing assembly to one of 10 1934116 11/33 Canfield 259 178 the bucket end Walls 2,351,361 6/44 Ockrant et a1. 259--109 X 2,698,742 1/55 McCoy 259178 a rotary hydraullc motor driving unit drivingly con- 2 818 742 1/58 Veach X nected to the other end of said shaft structure, 2961224 11/60 Wri ht means for securing said driving unit to the other bucket g end Wall, 15 FOREIGN PATENTS and a plurality of mixing agitators secured to said 27 517 9 1 Canada,

shaft at longitudinally-spaced intervals therealong, 31,783 2/27 F said agitators being mounted substantially in spaced 1,130,33 9 9/56 Fr parallel planes disposed approximately perpen- 720,686 12/54 Great Britain.

dicular t0 the axis of said shaft structure, said agitators including resilient arms of arcuate configuration with their inner ends secured tan- WALTER SCHEEL: P r Exammergentially to said shaft structure and partially LEO QUACKENBUSH, WILLIAM I. PRICE, encircling said shaft structure, Examiners.

880,034 10/61 Great Britain. 

1. A CONCRETE-MIXING ATTACHMENT FOR AN EARTH-MOVING MACHINE BUCKET WITH END WALL APERTURES, SAID ATTACHMENT COMPRISING A ROTARY SHAFT STRUCTURE ADAPTED TO BE ROTATINGLY RECEIVED IN THE APERTURES, A BEARING ASSEMBLY ROTATABLY SUPPORTING ONE END OF SAID SHAFT STRUCTURE, MEANS FOR SECURING SAID BEARING ASSEMBLY TO ONE OF THE BUCKET END WALLS, A ROTARY HYDRAULIC MOTOR DRIVING UNIT DRIVINGLY CONNECTED TO THE OTHER END OF SAID SHAFT STRUCTURE, 